Understanding Your Financial Ecosystem

How Culture Shapes Our Money Habits? How does our ecosystem — our culture, relationships, workplace, and environment — shape the way we think, feel, and act about money?

We like to think our financial choices are all about discipline and willpower. But what if our money habits are actually shaped by our surroundings — by the people we know, the place we live, and the culture that defines what “success” looks like?
Your financial behavior is not created in isolation — it’s a reflection of your ecosystem.

We’re Shaped More Than We Think

Research shows that money behavior is deeply social and cultural:

• 72% of adults say their money habits are influenced by their environment — including family, work, and community norms (YouGov Global Financial Behavior Study, 2023).
  
  

• In the UAE, over 60% of residents report lifestyle pressure driven by social comparison and easy access to credit (Visa Consumer Insights Report, 2024).
  
  

• In France, new regulations for overdrafts, starting in November 2026, aim to reduce chronic debt and promote more responsible financial behavior.
  
  

Our money story is shaped as much by the systems around us as by the goals within us.

Why I Learned to Master My Ecosystem

I grew up on a small island in the French West Indies, in a two-parent household that looked stable from the outside. But inside, I saw my mother carry most of the financial weight. That experience taught me early that money is never just about numbers — it’s about power, emotion, and awareness.

From a young age, I understood that to build a different future, I needed to take control of my ecosystem. I sought scholarships that allowed me to study abroad and access opportunities that could change my trajectory. My environment became my greatest teacher — and my greatest challenge.

Each country I lived in brought a new set of rules:

• New costs of living.

• New cultural expectations.

• New financial pressures.
  

I discovered that your environment can either shake your financial goals or support your ambitions. But back then, I wasn’t fully aware of my blind spots. My health was weak, my family foundation fragile, and both silently affected my financial stability.

That’s when I realized: to build true wealth, I needed emotional awareness — not just financial knowledge. When I learned to observe how my ecosystem influenced me, everything changed. I stopped reacting and started designing my financial life intentionally.

That’s what inspired Afrobudgetingirl — a movement to help others do the same: understand their financial environment, master their mindset, and turn vulnerability into empowerment.

Culture, Mindset, Upbringing, and Education: Knowing the Difference

To transform your financial life, you must first understand the forces that shape it:

• Culture defines what’s acceptable — whether it’s saving, spending, or showing wealth.

• Upbringing influences how you emotionally react to money — fear, guilt, or pride.

• Mindset determines how you process opportunities or setbacks.

• Education gives you the tools to make conscious, informed choices.
  

When you see these differences clearly, you gain the power to choose your own path instead of repeating inherited patterns.

How Environments Shape Behavior

• Guadeloupe – The Culture of Reliance

Every month in Guadeloupe, I’d see long lines outside payment centers — people waiting for government funds to cover essentials. It wasn’t about spending — it was about surviving. That culture shaped my earliest understanding of money as a means of stability and survival.

• Senegal – The Culture of Duty

In Senegal during Eid al-Adha (Tabaski), I saw people sell valuable assets like cars to fulfill religious duties and support their communities. Here, money wasn’t personal — it was social, sacred, and deeply communal.

• UK and US – The Culture of Consumption

In London on Boxing Day, or in the US on Black Friday, I saw people competing for sales — not because they needed the items, but because buying had become a cultural ritual. It showed me how consumption can become identity.

• UAE – The Culture of Access

In the UAE, I was shocked by how aggressively credit is marketed. Daily calls, WhatsApp messages, and emails offer credit cards and loans — even to people without jobs. Easy access normalizes debt, creating a culture where living beyond your means feels ordinary.

Each environment taught me something: money habits are not universal. They are cultural habits in disguise.

Understanding Your Ecosystem to Understand Yourself

Your environment shapes your money more than your income does. Ask yourself:

• Do my friends normalize debt or savings?

• Does my workplace promote financial wellbeing or silent competition?

• Do my cultural traditions push me toward generosity or pressure?
  

Awareness is the first step. Once you identify your ecosystem, you can reshape it — using its strengths, not its weaknesses, to reach financial freedom.

You can’t control every environment you live in — but you can learn to navigate it.

The Money Design Session

In my Masterclass, we’ll take this concept further through what I call the Money Design Session — a deep, practical exercise to map your financial ecosystem and redesign your habits consciously.

Here’s what you’ll do:

• List every element of your financial environment — from family and work to culture and media.

• Analyze how each influences your mindset, habits, and goals.

• Identify patterns and blind spots.

• Rebuild your financial foundation to align with your true objectives.
  

Then, my 200 Questions for Purposeful Budgeting book will help you identify blind spots, strengthen your foundation, and prepare for financial surprises.

💛 Subscribe today to receive:

• Free access to the Money Design Session preview.

• A freebie from the 200 Questions book.

• Early access to the Budgeting with Purpose Masterclass launch.
  

Take Control of Your Ecosystem, Take Control of Your Wealth

Your environment can either limit you or lift you. I’ve lived both — from a small island where reliance was the priority to financial hubs where excess is the norm. What changed my life was learning that awareness creates freedom.

When you understand your ecosystem, you stop being controlled by it. You start to design your money, your mindset, and your future intentionally.

That’s what true empowerment looks like — not escaping your environment, but mastering it.